Biotech Firm’s Pollination Program Produces Over 50% Larger Blueberries
March 23, 2022 Early research conducted by Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Associate Professor, Small Fruits, Washington State University (WSU), shows blueberries that had been pollinated by biotech startup Beeflow were substantially bigger – more than 50% in average berry size by gram – than berries pollinated through conventional pollination approaches.
DeVetter’s research team also observed greater foraging by Beeflow bees on suboptimal weather days, when the air temperatures were colder, than non-Beeflow bees, which increased the flight hours of the Beeflow pollination.
“Our goal is to innovate in order to optimize pollination in a way that has not been done before,” Matias Viel, Beeflow Founder and CEO, says. “We know how important our work is to increase biodiversity and help build an agriculture system that is more harmonious with nature, so these positive results are monumental to achieving this goal.”
‘Duke’ blueberries pollinated by biotech startup Beeflow are 50% larger in average berry size by gram than berries pollinated through conventional pollination approaches.
This first round of research was conducted in 2021 across two farms in northern Washington and involved ‘Duke’ blueberries. Studies of this nature require researchers to conduct work over three cycles to validate and confirm the results. The next round of field trials, which are being funded by the Washington Blueberry Commission, will be conducted this season by DeVetter and her team, which is focusing on the ‘Liberty’ blueberries, a notoriously more difficult variety to pollinate.
“As with any new technology and innovation, it is imperative that it be vetted by outside experts in order to prove efficacy and move adoption forward – and we are grateful for Washington State University, the Washington Blueberry Commission, and the work of Dr. DeVetter and her team and on this research,” Viel says.
Beeflow is a biotech startup company that creates and manages pollination programs for farmers that increases crop yields by up to 60%, according to the company. Beeflow combines scientific knowledge of crop pollination, bee biology and behavior, and chemical ecology with proprietary technologies, including molecules that help train bees to pollinate specific crops and a plant-based bee diet that enhances bees’ immune systems.
Based in California and with operations across the West Coast, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina, Beeflow closed an $8.3M Series A in May 2021 with Ospraie Ag Sciences, Future Ventures, Vectr Ventures, Jeff Wilke (former CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon), SOSV, and others. Beeflow’s team of experts includes biologists, ecologists, entomologists, agronomists, and entrepreneurs.
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